Star Trek
Al McWillams was born in Greenwich, Connecticut. He graduated at the New York School of Fine and Aplied Arts. McWilliams started his career in pulp magazines before becoming one of the pioneering comic book artists in 1935. McWilliams contributed both writing and artwork with a strong leaning towards science fiction, working on titles such as 'Captain Frank Hawk', 'Crimebusters', 'Space Cadets', 'Stratosphere Jim' and 'Flash Gordon'. He also worked on 'Skid Davis' (1939).
Twin Earths
During World War II, McWilliams worked on a number of war stories like 'Spitfire' and 'Captain Flag' (1940 to 1942). After three years in the army, McWilliams was discharged in 1945 and promptly resumed his comics career, developing 'Steve Wood' and 'Sergeant Spook', as well as a number of crime stories.
The Crime Busters
In 1952 Alden (Al) McWilliams began working on the science fiction daily 'Twin Earths', which was written by Oskar Lebeck. In 1963, McWilliams went on drawing 'Davy Jones' (a sea adventure strip, that originated in Sam Leff's 'Curly Kayoe' strip). Later came 'Dateline: Danger!' (1968-1974), a spy adventure strip written by John Saunders.
Davy Jones (Utrechts Nieuwsblad, 18/1/1966)
In his later years Al McWilliams drew the 'Star Trek' and 'Buck Rogers' newspapers strips, and he assisted John Prentice on 'Rip Kirby'. McWilliams also did a lot of advertising work and never stopped working for comic books ('Man from UNCLE' and 'I Spy'). Alden McWilliams died in March 1993.
Dateline: Danger!